Still Reservoirs for limewater delivery

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, that's right.

Dripping would be better than 0.2 gallon shots, however. Anything that is actual drps is OK. It is the "glug" of a half gallon at once that is the concern.

 

[ostrow]

Randy: resurrecting old thread.

I got a Chem-Tech Pulsafeeder on ebay, great deal. It's a Reef-Filler on steroids. It is a series 100 like the Reef-Filler but it is one of the "prime" series pumps and it maxes at 30GPD. Here's a pic:
http://www.thepurchaseadvantage.com..._perf_small.jpg

Looking at the head, the suction is on the bottom, the output on the side, and the top is a "degasser" that goes back to the kalk container. Now the conundrum.

I want to use this to dose Kalk from my 44gal Brute into my sump. The instructions say the pump should be positioned above the solution to be dosed and the suction tubing vertical and straight, while the destination for the output (injection they call it) should be above the pump.

These are mutually exclusive requirements in my setup and I would imagine in most peoples' setups, but many use these pumps. This pump is the same as Reef-Fillers in all respects except for the self-priming degasser thing. The instructions for the basic pump indicate the same requirements though worded in terms of "suggested" setup.

So, questions:

1. Will it work if the pump is to the side of my kalk container? Sounds like you have yours directly above? The suction tube would not be strictly vertical anymore.

2. Will it work if the pump is to the side and lower? The suction would go from the middle of the container, up through the lid of the Brute, down to the pump and then up through the head and then out to the tank -- this way the output is higher than the pump.

3. If not, and if pump is above the kalk container, then the output I was thinking I could snake down to the floor and then up over the edge of the sump. All still lower than the pump intake but there would be a big U shape in the output that I would think would prevent a siphon risk?

The instructions on these indicate there is a risk of siphon, BTW, but I have no idea why for as you say these are diaphragm pumps.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Looking at the head, the suction is on the bottom, the output on the side, and the top is a "degasser" that goes back to the kalk container. Now the conundrum.

That similar to the Reef Filler, except the Reef Filler has the outlet on the top and bleed on the side.

The suction as I currently have it is about 12 feet horizontally and not much vertically.

The pump can be below the top of the reservoir, but I agree that there is a small risk of siphon.

A siphon might come about if a particle blocked one of the little one way ball valves got stuck open. I've usually had the reverse, where pumping stopped, but no siphon happened.

 

[ostrow]

I'm told the Reef-Fillers have no bleed.

Thanks Randy, so I will position next to the kalk tub, a little above, and hope that works.

I didn't think pump on floor would cause siphon. Ther material says if the output is lower than the pump that will cause the siphon ... so pump say 4' above container, with output into sump maybe 2' off ground, could cause siphon...

But I'll not worry about that and put the pump aside the kalk tub like you did. Tahnks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm told the Reef-Fillers have no bleed.

They may not now, but the ones that I bought did. I sometimes use it.

If the ultimate outlet is above the reservoir, there will be no siphon under any conditions.

 

[ostrow]

Thanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Good luck.

 

[ostrow]

Well, woudn't ya know it?! The "self-priming" "prime performance" pump will not prime.

Pump is 2' horizontal and maybe 6" above the reservoir. Foot valve submerged 2' into the tub (I worry about the strainer on that foot valve, kalk will likely clog that in days... do you just leave it off?). Output is 7' away, slightly below the pump.

No suction. Goes up to just below the lid of the reservoir and pulses up and down there.

Guess I'm calling Chem-Tech on Monday...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Try manually getting a little water into the pump. It may help the little balls seat themselves (assuming it looks like the Reef Filler).

 

[ostrow]

Well, it was a PITA. The instruction manual said to mess with the knob. Basically unscrewing and then rescrewing it and searching for a magical though hard to detect spot that resets the adjustment dial. Tried that 5 times. Had to use a tiny hex wrench each time to adjust the dial to point to zero after finding the sweet spot. Never found it.

Then basically pumped the suction hose up and down a few times. That got it going. Belching kalk into the tank every pulse. But the adjustment dial had no effect at all. Not at all.

So with the pump running I did the adjustment on the dial again (after thinking on it for an hour). This time turned until the output was not putting anything into the sump. then adjusted the dial to point to zero.

Now, when at full blast, it's putting a lot in though whether it is 30GPD I have no clue. But I don't need that much.

I need like 7-8 GPD and when set at about 15% I'm getting about 2 drips per second so that seems pretty good. We'll see how it works.

Much quieter than I anticipated.

Randy: do you have the foot valve installed and submerged in the kalk? Intake strainer? How do these hold up????

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have the strainer on the end, but I don't know if it does anything useful. If I accidently let it run dry, it can be a pain to ge the pump working again as I suspect some solids get into the pump and allow backflow with each cycle.


Quiet would be good. The Reef Fillers are not.

 

[ostrow]

quieter. not quiet!!!

 

[ostrow]

Update: seems to be holding up perfectly at about 3 drops a second. Water level in sump seem steady.

I just can't believe that the strainer will not completely clog with kalk buildup in short order. Those are tiny, tiny holes.

Can you use the foot valve without the strainer? OR is that a bad idea?

 

[dga]

so from the time i make and stir the limewater, (i let it set for at least 24 hours before i let it drip overnight) should i be keeping the lid on tight?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Can you use the foot valve without the strainer? OR is that a bad idea?


I don't know. I think mine is an integral part.

so from the time i make and stir the limewater, (i let it set for at least 24 hours before i let it drip overnight) should i be keeping the lid on tight?

Keep limewater covered, yes.

 

[ostrow]

I let it sit for an hour. Randy doesn't let it sit at all, right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well, it takes me a couple of week to use each batch of limewater, but yes, I allow the system to start using it right away. But most of the limewater that is used is fully settled.

 

[reefkeeper1]

I used Randy's stil reservoir method for lime delivery for awhile, but I eventually cleaned out the reservoir and installed a kalkwasser stirrer (I bought the Barr Aquatic one) between my peristaltic pump and the output. Now I only have to worry about clogging with the relatively short run of tubing between the kalkwasser stirrer and the output instead of the 30 feet of tubing between my RO/DI water reservoir and the peristaltic pump. I also liked being able to see how much kalk is left in the reactor. I know the stirrer costs money, but I just found it more convenient for my needs.

 

[ostrow]

Why would your RO/DI tubing ever clog???

 

[reefkeeper1]

Oh, I was concerned about clogging when the RO/DI reservoir was also the kalkwasser reservoir. Now it's just RO/DI. The line never clogged, but I did notice a buildup of some particulate matter in the tubing.